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Too much alcohol

The other day, I was so pleased to see 1L (500g) tubs of Carte d'Or ice cream on offer Buy 1 get 1 free for £2.99 in Sainsbury's. I like Carte d'Or ice cream so couldn't resist the temptation and popped two of them into my basket.

----- Packaging -----

Carte d'Or range of ice cream are packed in 1L oval plastic tubs which are transparent, so you can clearly see what the ice cream looks like inside. On this particular one here is a picture of ice cream and raisin on the lid and at the bottom of the box information about ingredients and nutritional value. The ice cream is also protected by a transparent protective foil for freshness and to prevent any ice cream spills from the box in case you leave it outside for too long and the ice cream melts.

----- First impressions -----

On opening the tub at home, I was surprised at how light in colour the ice cream was and I couldn't see many raisins inside. I'm used to rum and raisin ice cream being quite dark beige colour and this one was a pale yellow shade, but this time I decided to ignore the colour and test the taste. I knew that Carte d'Or was a high quality brand, having had tasted a few other flavours before, so I couldn't go wrong with this one, could I?

----- Taste test -----

I put 2 big scoops of the ice cream in a bowl and noticed there were more raisins inside than I initially thought there were. Next came the taste test. The ice cream itself had just a hint of rum, and tasted rather weak for my liking, but the flavour was somewhat artificial. Then I bit on a raisin - it was plump and soft but far too boozy for what I was expecting. The raisins were heavily soaked in spirit which didn't taste much of rum but more of vodka... Looking at the ingredients list later, I wasn't very surprised - the rum they used to soak the raisins was 50% vol of pure alcohol. I don't mind strong alcohol as a drink and rum is one of the alcohols I usually enjoy, but the contrast between the raisin and ice cream alcohol content was too much. It really bothered me and every time I bit on a raisin I would cringe because of the strong alcohol taste.

----- What's in it? -----

The ingredients list clearly states that real rum from West Indies was used, but in my opinion it must have been a bad quality alcohol, because it just didn't taste the way it should. The ingredients for this product are as below:Reconstituted skimmed milk, cream, water, sugar, raisins (8%), 50% vol rum (5.5%), glucose-fructose syrup, whey solids, emulsifier (mono and diglycerides of fatty acids), stabilizers (locust bean gum, guar gum, carrageenan, xanthan gum), flavouring, colour (mixed carotenes).

Warning: This ice cream contains 1.5% alcohol by volume. There is no allergy warning on the packaging but if I were a nut allergy sufferer I would be wary because some of Carte d'Or ice cream contain nuts and this type of products is often manufactured on the same production line. This will obviously not be suitable for dairy allergy sufferers as it contains milk and cream.

Nutrition information - this is specified on the packaging per 100g, per 100ml and per portion (100ml=50g), however I am only listing the values as per 100g:Energy - 820 kJ/ 200 kcalProtein - 2.5gCarbohydrates - 24gFat - 8g Unfortunately, there is no further information regarding carbohydrates and fat (e.g. saturated and unsaturated) - if they were listed it would probably scare those on a diet... I have no doubt this ice cream (as most of the other ones on the market) is high in saturated fats and sugars.

Other information - the plastic packaging is recyclable.

----- My thoughts -----

I must admit that I ate the whole 1L tub in just 5 days, all on my own, and with each bite the taste of this ice cream bothered me less. But I assume it is also due to my taste buds being gradually 'frozen' so I couldn't taste the flavour that strongly with each bite.

It is a great shame that this ice cream didn't pass the taste test as the consistency was just right - creamy and soft with just enough juicy raisins. It was very easy to scoop out straight from the freezer and had the most satisfying texture.I was very disappointed with this ice cream, especially because I know Carte d'Or deliver good quality products and I am always expecting the best when I buy this brand.

----- Recommendation? -----No, wouldn't recommend as the standard price for 1L is £2.99 and I don't think this particular flavour is worth its price.

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Yummy Ice Cream

Having tried a few Carte D'Or flavours before I was pleased when I spotted this rum and raisin flavour as I've eaten this flavour in other brands.

Packaging:

Carte D'Or's Rum and Raisin ice cream comes in a 1 litre / 500g oval shaped, predominantly see through tub. It has the usual Carte D'or logo & a picture of the ice cream and raisins on the lid. The lid also has the Carte D'Or logo and a statement that this ice cream has no artificial colours and flavours. The bottom of the tub contains the ingredients & the nutritional information along with a few other pieces of information.

The product describes itself as:- "Rum ice cream made with rum from the West Indies (2%) and rum soaked raisins (11%)

Once you've removed the lid you'll see a tempting looking off white ice cream with raisins nestling on the surface here and there. Rum and raisin has always been a favourite flavour of mine when it comes to ice cream so I can't wait to see what this Carte D'Or one is like.

Pulling off the see through piece of plastic I take a smell and realise that I can't smell much of anything. I'm the first to admit that my sense of smell is not the best but it's usually ok. I start to wonder whether I should be able to detect any sort of rum aroma and hope that this ice cream isn't going to turn out to be bland.

Push my spoon in I take a taste and find my concerns laid to rest. There may only be 5.5% rum by volume in this ice cream but the flavour is immediately obvious. It's not so subtle that you're going to miss it nor have they used so much rum that the creaminess of the ice cream has been completely lost either.

The ice cream itself very good and tastes perhaps a little creamier than some of the others in the Carte D'Or range. I put that down to the fact that cream has been used in this product which isn't something that Carte D'Or use in all flavours. It has a light, fluffy consistency so that it just melts on your tongue. This makes a nice contrast with the raisins which you have to chew. Even if you've got your freezer turned down to a really low temperature your spoon will still go through this with ease. It's much lighter than your average ice cream so there are no problems getting your spoon into it to take a taste or several because it's really hard.

The raisins are juicy, plump and very tasty and I tend to get at least one in most spoonfuls, although, if I'm honest I would prefer it if there were slightly more used. But that's just a personal preference because I also like raisins a lot. If you're not that fond of them then this probably won't be an issue for you.

Like some ice creams, the sugar figure for this ice cream isn't great, clocking it as it does at 24%. The fat figure, at 8% is a lot lower and whilst that's not brilliant it's certainly lower than your average packet of crisps. This is really an ice cream that should be eaten as a treat if you're on a diet or watching your weight but, if you've tried other rum and raisin flavour ice creams and liked them this one won't disappoint you at all. It has a much smoother, creamier taste (and the raisins are a lot nicer) than some of the cheaper brands that do a rum 'n' raisin flavour